You might think that Dennis Toeppen, the one-time domain squatter and owner of weekend shuttle service Suburban Express, would have learned valuable lessons about social media by now. Toeppen became the focus of much Internet anger and earned the attention of activist attorneys and the Illinois Attorney General after threatening to sue a reddit moderator. Around the same time, his personal and business websites were all apparently defaced.

But if you thought that he was done, you'd be wrong. Toeppen has once again taken to the Web, raising the stakes in his attack against a social-media critic of his company. Some reddit users claim that he is again trolling reddit with "throwaway" reddit accounts as part of his campaign to silence critics. And there has been speculation that Toeppen defaced his own sites in an effort to make himself look like a victim.

The full Streisand

Toeppen's activities have already drawn the interest of the Illinois Attorney General's Office in addition to the massive amounts of bad press. The problems began when Toeppen's company assessed a $500 "liquidated damages" fine to passenger Jeremy Leval after Leval recounted an incident on a bus contracted by Suburban Express on March 31. Leval said that the driver had yelled at an international student boarding the bus for not following his instructions, reportedly telling her, "If you don’t understand English, you don’t belong at the University of Illinois or any ‘American’ University."

Toeppen took to reddit to counter Leval's claims and said that someone had apologized for the incident—but he went on to claim that Leval was only saying bad things about his company because he wanted to start a competing business. When reddit users responded negatively to his posts—and to trolls allegedly posted under fake accounts from Suburban Express' IP address that called the contributors to the subreddit virgins and compulsive masturbators—he tracked down the identity of reddit moderator Murph Finnicum and had his lawyer send a letter threatening a lawsuit if negative comments about Suburban Express were not removed.

In midst of the blowback from that threat—which included the apparent defacement of Toeppen's personal site as well as sites for Suburban Express and his charter bus company—Toeppen moved to drop over 125 small-claims lawsuits he had filed against customers over a failure to follow his company's policies. Some of those sued by Toeppen's company or hit with punitive "fines" charged to their credit cards by the company say they were singled out because they wrote negative reviews of the company's service. Toeppen said in an email that the company does not retain credit card data, so fines can't be assessed directly against customers' accounts.

The suits, which were all filed in Illinois' Ford County—chosen by Toeppen, in his words, because of its "wide open court calendar, easy parking and service with a smile"—were dropped after Toeppen and his lawyer were contacted by Ken White, the Los Angeles defense attorney and legal blogger at Popehat.com. White had asked if Toeppen was aware of the "Streisand Effect"—the blowback that usually accompanies attempts to silence speech online. "When you double, triple, and quadruple down on online dickery," White wrote in his post to Popehat about the case, "you place yourself beyond easy reputational redemption, and instead face the full force of the Streisand Effect."

Quintupling down on dickery

But one case still remains in play—that of Jeremy Leval, who has continued to speak out about Toeppen's tactics and who is pursuing a case against Toeppen himself. This weekend, Toeppen relaunched his online attacks against Leval, posting a page to Suburban Express' website that recounted the March 31 incident from Toeppen's point of view and calling Leval "nothing but a bullying, self-important brat." The page reiterated Toeppen's claim that Leval was trying to smear Suburban Express to help his own since-aborted plans for a student ride-sharing site, saying, "A blogger suggested that Leval may have been motivated to harass Suburban Express as a means of furthering his business interests."

Toeppen's post didn't end there. He also recounted a conversation that Leval and his girlfriend allegedly had with a driver from another transportation service. "On May 12, 2013, Jeremy Leval and his girlfriend interacted with an EAC driver at Armory around 2:50pm. Jeremy approached the driver and asked if he had heard of Suburban Express. Jeremy went on to boast that he is the guy who is causing Suburban Express lots of trouble. This makes [me] question Jeremy Leval's motivations. Is he a selfless individual fighting for the rights of the oppressed, or is he a self-promoting, troublemaking, attention-seeker?"

To cap it all off, Toeppen posted a list of Leval's blog and reddit usernames, including "Sweethackinjustice (a particularly interesting username choice in light of the fact that parts of our website were apparently hacked a few weeks ago)."

The content regarding Leval's conversation was then posted to reddit by someone using the account "notmyregular8account" with the addition of "Posting from a new account so I don't get tangled up in this. (Suburban Express) seems to be able to figure out who everyone is." Leval claims that the account was actually set up by Toeppen himself, following his previous pattern of setting up throwaway reddit user names and using the account names as the passwords. That accusation led to a long string of taunts from the account, including "You sound an awful lot like sweethackinjustice, one of Jeremy's many throwaways. Jeremy, congratulate yourself for graduating with your MBA and then go to sleep."

Toeppen e-mailed Ars last week to say that he had not been able to respond to messages because he had been hiking the Grand Canyon and had left all his electronics checked at a hotel, but he never addressed the questions about what had been done to the sites or whether law enforcement had been contacted.

This scumbag deserves to be put out of business. He taunts the kid about his "MBA" when it's obvious he himself has zero business sense. You treat your customers like shit = they complain and you lose them. And no, stifling the dissent via ridiculous lawsuits, bullying tactics and desperate sockpuppet accounts is NOT a valid business strategy.

So how DID Toeppen learn of this conversation that took place on a bus that is not from his company? Is he having Leval followed, waiting to "catch him in the act" and yell HA HA! while leaping out of the bushes?

So how DID Toeppen learn of this conversation that took place on a bus that is not from his company? Is he having Leval followed, waiting to "catch him in the act" and yell HA HA! while leaping out of the bushes?

It would be a lot easier to just make crap up. If Leval denies it, it's his word against Toeppen's.

I am interested in how this will eventually turn out. I would say in the vast majority of cases, when a company gets into a screaming match with John Q Internet-poster, the company usually loses. It is not easy for the side with the higher publicity to win over the side that doesn't. A lot students at Illinois have heard of or used Suburban Express, and many of those same students have probably not heard of, nor do they probably really care who Jeremy Leval is. After writing this I am assuming this is probably the underlying mechanics behind the Streisand Effect.

Also I assume that having your company make an official statement which is amounts to a dick-waving contest might make employees nervous, as now the entire company is marching right into the morass of defamation.

It doesn't even matter if the incident with the bus driver happened. Leval can be the most arrogant, self-involved attention seeking child you've ever met, I don't see how that changes the facts.

It's actually a pretty weak point to even bring up.Toeppen gets accused of being a slimeball and a crook, sueing and trying to gag all of those who rate his business poorly, and the best he can respond with is "Look, that guy is bragging about being the center of all this trouble!".

I'd like to know more about the AG investigation, but I doubt they'll comment.

What I'd also like to know is this: does SE come onto the campus? And if so, has anyone asked the administration of the University if they know what is going on? When I was at University, companies that were abusive towards students were banned off campus. Things like charges to credit cards, unless accidental or fully taken care of (i.e. cashier fired, money reimbursed plus interest), could result in your storefront getting boarded up.

With SE, if they are parking on campus, they could be kicked off. Local complaints to the city and local police (threats and physical contact are illegal) could then result in further sanctions.

Toeppen e-mailed Ars last week to say that he had not been able to respond to messages because he had been hiking the Grand Canyon and had left all his electronics checked at a hotel

Not the Appalachian Trail?

I imagine the entire expanse of the AT wouldn't be enough space to contain the egos of both Toeppen and Sanford...

I guess the only thing left for Toeppen is to run for Congress in South Carolina. He's a shoe-in.

Edit: Yeah, South Carolinians, the truth hurts. If you guys will vote that dirtbag Sanford in, you'll vote anybody into office, as long as there's an (R) by his name and he speaks the right code words.

I'd like to know more about the AG investigation, but I doubt they'll comment.

What I'd also like to know is this: does SE come onto the campus? And if so, has anyone asked the administration of the University if they know what is going on? When I was at University, companies that were abusive towards students were banned off campus. Things like charges to credit cards, unless accidental or fully taken care of (i.e. cashier fired, money reimbursed plus interest), could result in your storefront getting boarded up.

With SE, if they are parking on campus, they could be kicked off. Local complaints to the city and local police (threats and physical contact are illegal) could then result in further sanctions.

Just something I'm wondering about. I'm open to any info anyone has!

Suburban Express does park on campus. They have boarding and drop-off locations right next to university buildings. I am not sure if the university has any power to stop that, or even if they would.

Geraden_ wrote:

It doesn't even matter if the incident with the bus driver happened. Leval can be the most arrogant, self-involved attention seeking child you've ever met, I don't see how that changes the facts.

It's actually a pretty weak point to even bring up.Toeppen gets accused of being a slimeball and a crook, sueing and trying to gag all of those who rate his business poorly, and the best he can respond with is "Look, that guy is bragging about being the center of all this trouble!".

Makes me think of that saying "a lot of people confuse ego for talent".

I'd like to know more about the AG investigation, but I doubt they'll comment.

What I'd also like to know is this: does SE come onto the campus? And if so, has anyone asked the administration of the University if they know what is going on? When I was at University, companies that were abusive towards students were banned off campus. Things like charges to credit cards, unless accidental or fully taken care of (i.e. cashier fired, money reimbursed plus interest), could result in your storefront getting boarded up.

With SE, if they are parking on campus, they could be kicked off. Local complaints to the city and local police (threats and physical contact are illegal) could then result in further sanctions.

Just something I'm wondering about. I'm open to any info anyone has!

Suburban Express does park on campus. They have boarding and drop-off locations right next to university buildings. I am not sure if the university has any power to stop that, or even if they would.

Geraden_ wrote:

It doesn't even matter if the incident with the bus driver happened. Leval can be the most arrogant, self-involved attention seeking child you've ever met, I don't see how that changes the facts.

It's actually a pretty weak point to even bring up.Toeppen gets accused of being a slimeball and a crook, sueing and trying to gag all of those who rate his business poorly, and the best he can respond with is "Look, that guy is bragging about being the center of all this trouble!".

Makes me think of that saying "a lot of people confuse ego for talent".

Not that campus parking is necessary. There are plenty of locations such as Green & Wright or Green & Lincoln where they could park off campus and still be very available to students. U of I kicking them off campus wouldn't have much of an impact.

Not that campus parking is necessary. There are plenty of locations such as Green & Wright or Green & Lincoln where they could park off campus and still be very available to students. U of I kicking them off campus wouldn't have much of an impact.

Symbolic measures can still have an impact. The college sending an email stating that due to these incidents, the company will no longer be allowed to use school facilities would educated more students about the practices of the company, and let businesses know that taking advantage of their students will cause them problems.

If nothing else, it makes the school look better. Doing nothing about students getting mired in problems and letting them be taken advantage of paints them as a gutless organization.

Not that campus parking is necessary. There are plenty of locations such as Green & Wright or Green & Lincoln where they could park off campus and still be very available to students. U of I kicking them off campus wouldn't have much of an impact.

Symbolic measures can still have an impact. The college sending an email stating that due to these incidents, the company will no longer be allowed to use school facilities would educated more students about the practices of the company, and let businesses know that taking advantage of their students will cause them problems.

If nothing else, it makes the school look better. Doing nothing about students getting mired in problems and letting them be taken advantage of paints them as a gutless organization.

This is what my university was thinking: make a public stink, educate students, and also show that the university will stand up for students. It worked well, and since the university owned most of the buildings on the streets surrounding us, it kept a lot of businesses in line.

I'd like to know more about the AG investigation, but I doubt they'll comment.

What I'd also like to know is this: does SE come onto the campus? And if so, has anyone asked the administration of the University if they know what is going on? When I was at University, companies that were abusive towards students were banned off campus. Things like charges to credit cards, unless accidental or fully taken care of (i.e. cashier fired, money reimbursed plus interest), could result in your storefront getting boarded up.

With SE, if they are parking on campus, they could be kicked off. Local complaints to the city and local police (threats and physical contact are illegal) could then result in further sanctions.

Just something I'm wondering about. I'm open to any info anyone has!

Suburban Express does park on campus. They have boarding and drop-off locations right next to university buildings. I am not sure if the university has any power to stop that, or even if they would.

Geraden_ wrote:

It doesn't even matter if the incident with the bus driver happened. Leval can be the most arrogant, self-involved attention seeking child you've ever met, I don't see how that changes the facts.

It's actually a pretty weak point to even bring up.Toeppen gets accused of being a slimeball and a crook, sueing and trying to gag all of those who rate his business poorly, and the best he can respond with is "Look, that guy is bragging about being the center of all this trouble!".

Makes me think of that saying "a lot of people confuse ego for talent".

Not that campus parking is necessary. There are plenty of locations such as Green & Wright or Green & Lincoln where they could park off campus and still be very available to students. U of I kicking them off campus wouldn't have much of an impact.

What would be interesting (though I doubt the school would get involved) is if the school sent out a massmail simply informing students of the situation. Just an email about how "students providing feedback on Suburban Express' services have faced lawsuits", that "Suburban Express has used "fines" of questionable legality against students that provide reviews", and "the Attorney General of the State of Illinois has starting looking into the situation". The University could state the facts, not give an opinion, but show its willing to throw its (massive) weight into the situation.

Or in put in a language that netizens will understand: "The University draws a lot of water in this town, Toeppen. You don't draw shit."

I recently called out a business owner out after sending me a petty dick-ish email to me. Owners of company should not be responding to things of this nature. This is why PR or HR people exist. The best thing to be said in most cases is nothing at all.

I've never heard of this bus company now and I no nothing about them other than their boss is a petty jerk and I would never use their services

According to the screenshot of the bus company web site, the alleged conversation with the bus driver from the other bus company took place on May 12, 2013. That was just yesterday, and today there's a whole page on the Suburban Express web site? Wow, that's some pretty fast work there.

What I don't get is that one of the main accusations leveled against the company is that they were doing unauthorized and likely fraudulent charges onto students' credit cards as "fees" or "punishment". If the court cases are being dropped by the company, that's great, but have all of these students been refunded for these charges? I've not seen any mention anywhere of that information.

Really, what it gets down to is regardless of how dickish Toeppen is, if he's already gotten the students' money and there's nothing stopping him from continuing these "fee" practices (which I severely hope the Attorney General is going to address with this investigation), then who the hell cares about the court cases? He's making a business model off what amounts to credit card fraud. That worries me a hell of a lot more than the guy being a first-rate prick to all his customers and five-star douchey online behavior.

I'd like to know more about the AG investigation, but I doubt they'll comment.

What I'd also like to know is this: does SE come onto the campus? And if so, has anyone asked the administration of the University if they know what is going on? When I was at University, companies that were abusive towards students were banned off campus. Things like charges to credit cards, unless accidental or fully taken care of (i.e. cashier fired, money reimbursed plus interest), could result in your storefront getting boarded up.

With SE, if they are parking on campus, they could be kicked off. Local complaints to the city and local police (threats and physical contact are illegal) could then result in further sanctions.

Just something I'm wondering about. I'm open to any info anyone has!

Suburban Express does park on campus. They have boarding and drop-off locations right next to university buildings. I am not sure if the university has any power to stop that, or even if they would.

Geraden_ wrote:

It doesn't even matter if the incident with the bus driver happened. Leval can be the most arrogant, self-involved attention seeking child you've ever met, I don't see how that changes the facts.

It's actually a pretty weak point to even bring up.Toeppen gets accused of being a slimeball and a crook, sueing and trying to gag all of those who rate his business poorly, and the best he can respond with is "Look, that guy is bragging about being the center of all this trouble!".

Makes me think of that saying "a lot of people confuse ego for talent".

Not that campus parking is necessary. There are plenty of locations such as Green & Wright or Green & Lincoln where they could park off campus and still be very available to students. U of I kicking them off campus wouldn't have much of an impact.

Except for the extremely bad image it would give SE in the eyes of students.

Student - "Why does that bus not park on campus anymore?"Student2 - "They got kicked off for being abusive to students and "fining" people $500 for bad reviews"Student - "I guess Im not taking them anymore"